A FRIEND IN NEED; OR, HOW
“THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD”
FOUND A PUBLISHER
By Maude Morrison Frank
“I received one morning a message from poor Goldsmith that he was in great distress, and, as it was not in his power to come to me, begging that I would come to him as soon as possible. I accordingly went as soon as I was dressed, and found that his landlady had arrested him for his rent, at which he was in a violent passion. I perceived that he had already changed my guinea, and had got a bottle of Madeira and a glass before him. I put the cork into the bottle, desired he would be calm, and began to talk to him of the means by which he might be extricated. He then told me that he had a novel ready for the press, which he produced to me. I looked into it, and saw its merit; told the landlady I should soon return, and, having gone to a book-seller, sold it for sixty pounds. I brought Goldsmith the money, and he discharged his rent....”
From Boswell’s “Life of Johnson.”
CHARACTERS
| Oliver Goldsmith. | ||
| Dr. Samuel Johnson. | ||
| The Landlady. | ||
| Margery, aged 13, |  | The Landlady’s Children. |
| Dick,aged 12, | ||
Time: 1762
SCENE
Oliver Goldsmith’s lodgings, Wine Office Court, Fleet Street, London. The walls are discolored, the furniture is old and rickety. The floor, the chairs, and the tables are littered with quantities of ragged books and loose papers.